Obama wants to tax Muni Bonds???

Pres. Obama's new tax plan includes a partial removal of the tax-exempt status given to muni bonds. As fund manager Ben Thompson explains it, investors could have to pay a tax rate as high as 11.6% on muni bond income, depending on their bracket. 

Stocks lose gains in last hour...

Selling programs kicked in in the last hour driving stocks to their lows of the day.  The Dow closed slightly higher but there was a significant pullback from earlier gains.

Dow +7 to 11408
Nas -22 to 2590
S&P -2 to 1202

Tomorrow afternoon we will get headlines from the Fed meeting that started today.  I have to think the market action will be muted until we hear from them.

Hard to believe, a crooked online gaming site???

The Justice Department accuses former online poker site Full Tilt Poker of running a Ponzi scheme that allowed insiders to take out $444M in funds that were supposed to be held in player accounts. Court filings amending an earlier complaint accuse board members - including well-known poker players - of bank fraud, money laundering and illegal gambling.

2 pm update...more of the same...

Stocks remain higher, with oils and banks joining some of the more familiar names.

Dow +116
Nas +16
S&P +12 to 1216

Leading the market higher:

Apple +9 to 420.83
Chipotle +9.64 to 345.78
IBM +3.59 to 176.77
Mastercard +11 to 359
Perrigo +1.98 to 98.42

Ag and fertilizer stocks are lower.

Perrigo hits all-time high...

Shares of Perrigo (PRGO) the generic healthcare products maker are breaking out to new highs again.  This one has a near perfect recent track record of Income and Revenue growth.

PRGO is up 2.70 to a new high of 99.14

Here is the daily chart:

That's right. Kick them when they're down...

Dish Network's (DISH +4%) Blockbuster unit is expected to announce Friday a video streaming service to compete with Netflix (NFLX -8.5%). Netflix shares are off 36% in 4 days, with a longer-term chart resembling that of a broken bubble.

Mastercard shooting to new all-time highs...

Mastercard is up another 11.85 to 359.80 this morning.

Here is a look at the weekly chart:

Jazz Pharmaceutical buys private company...

Jazz Pharmaceuticals Inc. (JAZZ). The company said it would buy privately held Azur Pharma Ltd in stock and form a specialty pharmaceutical company in Ireland. Jazz shareholders would own about 80 percent of the combined company, while Azur Pharma shareholders would own slightly over 20 percent. Jazz said the combined company, Jazz Pharmaceuticals plc, is expected to have revenue of over $475 million and generate cash of more than $200 million in the first year.


JAZZ is up 2.55 to a new high of 46.29

Gold on the rise again...

Gold stocks are gaining today, as the metal rises to $1,806/oz. and execs make positive remarks at the Denver Gold Forum.


The Gold ETF (GLD) is up 2.29 to 175.65 

At 11:00 am....

Stocks are moving higher again. 

Dow +114
Nas +25
S&P +13 to 1217

Leaders:

Apple +9.84 to 421.40
Priceline +20.54 to 551
Green Mountain +2.88 to 114.50
IBM +2.93 to 176
Perrigo +1.60 to 98.04
Jazz Pharmaceutical +3.11 to 46.85
Carbo Ceramics +2.71 to 156.39

Netflix is down another 10 to 133.75

Caterpillar global sales up...

Caterpillar (CAT +0.9%) says global sales in its bread-and-butter construction machinery segment rose 34%, headlining a strong sales report that shows gains in all global markets. Dealer-reported machines sales in North America came in on the low end at 30% Y/Y, down from 50% just 2 months ago. Analysts expects tough comparable to start dampening sales growth figures heading into the fall.

Today's Upgrades and Downgrades...

These are some of this Tuesday’s top analyst upgrades, downgrades, and initiations seen having an impact from Wall Street research calls.


Alon USA Energy, Inc. (NYSE: ALJ) is the value stock of the day at Zacks.
Apache Corp. (NYSE: APA) Started as Buy at Deutsche Bank.
Carbonite, Inc. (NASDAQ: CARB) Started as Buy at Canaccord Genuity; Started as Outperform at Oppenheimer; Started as Outperform at William Blair; Started as Buy at BofA/ML.
Chesapeake Energy Corporation (NYSE: CHK) Started as Hold at Deutsche Bank.
Devon Energy Corporation (NYSE: DVN) Started as Hold at Deutsche Bank.
JinkoSolar Holding Co., Ltd. (NYSE: JKS) Cut to Neutral at Credit Suisse.
Logitech International SA (NASDAQ: LOGI) Cut to Sell at Goldman Sachs.
Marvell Technology Group Ltd. (NASDAQ: MRVL) Cut to Market Perform at JMP Securities.
MGM Resorts International (NYSE: MGM) Raised to Overweight at Morgan Stanley.
Molycorp, Inc. (NYSE: MCP) Cut to Neutral at JPMorgan.
Mosaic Co. (NYSE: MOS) Raised to Sector Outperform at CIBC.
PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE: PHM) Raised to Buy at UBS.
SandRidge Permian Trust (NYSE: PER) Started as Outperform at Oppenheimer; Started as Market Weight at Wells Fargo; Started as Outperform at Baird.
SAP AG (NYSE: SAP) Raised to Outperform at Wells Fargo.
SM Energy Co. (NYSE: SM) named Bull of the Day at Zacks.
The Travelers Companies, Inc. (NYSE: TRV) Raised to Buy at Goldman Sachs.
VMware, Inc. (NYSE: VMW) Started as Buy at Merriman (Monday night).

Housing Starts slow...

August Housing Starts: -5% to 571K vs. 590K expected and 601K (revised) last month.

Permits +3% to 620K vs. 590K expected and 601K (revised) last month.

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Good Morning....

Futures are up this morning following what I would call a positive day yesterday in the market.  Though the verages were lower, it is clear that funds were putting money to work, buying up shares of the recent market leaders.

The Federal Reserve begins a two-day policy meeting today, a gathering that was originally scheduled to be just one day. That means an exception from the Fed's new policy of holding a news conference following two-day meetings.


A handful of notable earnings will be out before the opening bell, with AutoZone (AZO), Conagra (CAG), and Carnival (CCL) set to report.

After the bell today, we get earnings reports from Oracle (ORCL) and Adobe Systems (ADBE)